I took your advice and refined the game a bit. I had intended the party member to join the player towards the beginning, but didn't anticipate the player not taking the path I intended, so I made it an unskippable event where the character joins the party shortly after leaving the village. The Ghouls are now more manageable and I have also made other mechanics more balanced for efficiency. Thanks for the feedback! Have a great night!
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Hello!
I am glad you took it well. However, there is still problems to check like negative space (always ask yourself: why can the player access this area? May it be a treasure chest, a sign, a trap, or whatever). NEVER expect the players to follow a predetermined path, if there is a place a player can go, it WILL go there. When something is important, indicate it in some way, may it be the only guy in the room that's different or the little shining star you put on a pot to indicate an hidden reward - especially if you don't want to reward exploration. Also, you should test all your fights and make sure they are interesting. I noticed, playing your update, that the Ghouls aren't the only monster to pose absolutely no threat to the player.
Hope I could help. Have a great day! And good luck for the jam! ^^